Great Ejection

Great Ejection
Ejected Puritan Ministers · Public domain · source
Name	Great Ejection
Date	24 August 1662
Place	England
Outcome	Ejection of about 2,000 Puritan clergy from Church of England livings
Significance	Major rupture in English ecclesiastical life; foundation for Nonconformist denominations

Great Ejection

The Great Ejection was the mass expulsion of Puritan clergy from the Church of England following the Act of Uniformity 1662 and the subsequent enforcement of the Book of Common Prayer. Rooted in decades of conflict involving the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration of Charles II, the Ejection decisively altered the religious landscape by displacing ministers, reshaping congregations, and catalyzing the development of Nonconformist denominations. It connected to wider political settlements such as the Declaration of Breda and to legal instruments including the Clarendon Code.

Background and Causes

Tensions culminating in the Ejection had antecedents in disputes involving Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Long Parliament, Rump Parliament, and the factions of the English Civil War such as the New Model Army and the Royalists. Controversies over liturgy and episcopacy engaged figures like William Laud, John Pym, and Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford; episodes such as the Bishops' Wars and the impeachment of Archbishop William Laud heightened polarization. The 1659 collapse of the Protectorate and the subsequent invitation to Charles II via the Declaration of Breda set the stage for restoration settlements. Legislative responses included the Act of Uniformity 1662, the Corporation Act 1661, the Conventicles Act 1664, and the Five Mile Act 1665, which together formed the Clarendon Code under architects linked to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon and the Cavalier Parliament. Disputes over the Book of Common Prayer and episcopal ordination echoed controversies involving Richard Baxter, John Owen, and Samuel Rutherford during the Interregnum.

Events of 1662

The immediate trigger was enforcement of the Act of Uniformity which required conformity to the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer and episcopal ordination by bishops such as Gilbert Sheldon and Matthew Wren. On 24 August 1662, approximately 2,000 clergy who refused to comply were deprived of their benefices; notable ecclesiastical seats affected included parishes in London, Oxford, and Cambridge. Legal processes, overseen by ecclesiastical commissioners and sometimes secular authorities like the Court of King’s Bench, expelled ministers including those associated with the Independents, Presbyterians, and Baptists. Some clergy attempted accommodation via occasional conformity debates involving figures like Sir Matthew Hale and Henry Vane the Younger, while others faced penalties under subsequent statutes such as the Conventicles Act and were pursued by local magistrates like Sir Harbottle Grimston.

Impact on Nonconformity and English Society

The Ejection intensified organization among Nonconformists including communities linked to George Fox, John Bunyan, Richard Baxter, and John Owen, accelerating the growth of congregations meeting outside parish structures. Emergent denominations such as the Congregationalists, Baptists, and [Quakers[—and networks of dissenting academies in locales like Exeter and Manchester—relied on excluded ministers. Urban centers such as London, Bristol, York, and Norwich became hubs for dissenting worship and charity, while rural parishes experienced shifts in social leadership and poor relief administered by new incumbents loyal to Charles II. The social ramifications intersected with cultural figures like John Milton and Andrew Marvell, who had engaged the religious debates of the period, and influenced philanthropic ventures associated with families such as the Percys and patrons like Lady Masham.

Consequences for the Church of England

The Church of England consolidated a more uniform episcopal and liturgical identity, reinforced by bishops including Gilbert Sheldon and political allies such as Edward Hyde. The removal of Puritan ministers reshaped parish ministry, with replacements often drawn from Royalist or conforming clergy educated at Oxford and Cambridge colleges like Christ Church, Oxford and Trinity College, Cambridge. Institutional changes were reflected in ecclesiastical courts and cathedral chapters across sees such as Canterbury, York, and Durham. The Act of Uniformity and enforcement measures also provoked internal debates among conforming clergy involving jurists and theologians like John Gauden and Jeremy Taylor.

Notable Figures and Congregations

Prominent ejected ministers included Richard Baxter, John Owen, Thomas Manton, Thomas Goodwin, and John Howe; congregations that reconstituted as dissenting communities appeared in parishes across London, Southampton, Nottingham, Exeter, and Worcester. Important dissenting meeting-houses and networks involved names like Pride's Purge-era survivors and later activists such as Daniel Defoe and Joseph Addison who engaged broader public debate. Institutions shaped by ejected clergy gave rise to academies and meeting-houses that influenced later figures including Philip Doddridge and Isaac Watts.

Long-term Religious and Political Legacy

The Great Ejection contributed to durable denominational pluralism in Britain and the Anglo-Atlantic world, affecting colonial religious landscapes in Massachusetts Bay Colony and Pennsylvania, and influencing migration patterns tied to families and ministers bound for New England and the Caribbean. Politically, the settlement informed debates leading to legislation such as the Toleration Act 1689 and engaged thinkers like John Locke and Isaac Newton in discussions about conscience and toleration. The memory of the Ejection persisted in Nonconformist commemorations and historiography involving writers such as Daniel Neal and Samuel Palmer, and it framed later movements for civil rights involving figures like William Wilberforce and organizations such as the Nonconformist Council.

Category:English Reformation